US Mint Sales of Gold and Silver Bullion Coins in January 2013

2013 sprinted with a surging monthly sales start for United States Mint bullion coins composed from gold and silver.

2013 American Eagle Bullion Coins – Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle

Likely the bellwether month that will get compared to for the rest of the year at least, US Mint sales of gold and silver bullion coins in January were:

7,498,000 for 99.9% fine American Silver Eagles. That is a new all-time monthly high.

152,000 troy ounces for 22-karat American Gold Eagles. There has been no better month since July 2010.

72,500 troy ounces for 24-karat America Gold Buffalos, which is the highest sales for a month since October 2009

144,800 ounces for 99.9% fine America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins, which is the most in a month since 2011

Obviously, the most impressive tally — simply because of the record — is that of this year’s Silver Eagles. The bullion coins notched an opening-day sales record of 3,937,000 on January 7, 2013. Sales grew to 6,007,000 when the US Mint’s initial inventory ran out on January 17, 2013 and the bureau implemented a temporary sales suspension until January 28, 2013.

Sales resumed on time but only in a limited basis that restricted how many US Mint dealers could order. The allocation process is similar to the one implemented by the Royal Canadian Mint before the last week in January. Also due to high demand, the Canadian Mint is rationing Silver Maple Leaf sales to its distributors. How long both mints will continue to limit sales is unknown, but February silver bullion sales figures will almost certainly be lower as a result — throwing aside all other factors.

Here are tables of current sales totals for US Mint bullion products:

American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Sales

Month

One
(oz. / #coins)

Half
(oz. / #coins)

Quarter
(oz. / #coins)

Tenth
(oz. / #coins)

Total
(oz. / #coins)

January

84,500
84,500

24,500
49,000

9,500
38,000

8,500
85,000

127,000
256,500

American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Sales

Month

One
(oz. / #coins)

January

6,107,000
6,107,000

American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coin Sales

Month

One
(oz. / #coins)

January

13,500
13,500

ATB 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coin Sales

Month

One
(oz. / #coins)

January

144,800
28,960

The US Mint does not sell bullion products the same way as it does coin collecting products. Coins for collectors are available for order directly from the US Mint website. Anyone interested may order. Bullion coins, however, are only available to a small group of authorized purchasers. These distributors order from the US Mint in bulk and then resell in smaller quantities to other dealers or straight to the public.

This process has worked fairly smooth in the sense that US Mint bullion coins are generally available from many secondary market sources and at small premiums above their current melt values.